"Get in there!" An armored guard shouted as he shoved another prisoner into the cell and locked the door.

At this point the cell was nearly beyond capacity, full of people wearing thick red cloaks and hoods for warmth. Some of them had red masks covering their faces, obviously the so-called Red Rogues that were causing trouble throughout the city. At elast, they were causing trouble for the rich nobility. Stealing from their lavish mansions and using the stolen goods to buy food and other necessities for the far less fortunate people of the city. That didn't matter to the nobles though. To them, they were no more than thieves regardless of their intentions.

The guards shook their head, annoyed by the increase in arrests and subsequent paperwork they had to do thanks to these Red Rogues. Some of the guards were sympathetic, not big fans of the nobles themselves, but their job was their job. If they just let these criminals go, it'd be them in need of the Red Rogue's charity. They could only take it easy on them as they locked them up, trying not to use too much force as they did so. They walked out of the prison, keeping one guard posted outside the door

Up in the rafters above, a dark shadow moved about. Hylltywyll wasn't one for charity, so they didn't get these Red Rogues. They were thieves, like him, but they gave away what they stole while he hoarded it. Hmph. Weird. What was the point in helping a bunch of random strangers? It was just silly.

The two-foot tall, fluffy Fairy sat on a rafter, quietly watching as the prisoners huddled and spoke, like they were coming up with a plan even as they were locked up. Maybe this would be entertaining to watch if they had some means of escape. He could easily open a hole in the wall and let them all out, but where was the fun in that?

A triton man wakes up from his sleeping spot in some random alley store and looks at the sky, noticing before a red letter falls on his head. He shakes his head in shock before grabbing it and opening it slightly annoyed at the interruption to his waking up. He reads it and it says simply, ‘If you free the Red Rogues from their capture, you’ll be paid for it greatly’, in bright red ink on white parchment.

He crumbles it up and tucks it into his pocket thinking about it for only a second before a grin turns up on his face. The job seemed easy enough, free red dudes from jail get money, seemed almost too easy like free money. After all, he’d just be dealing with some good-for-nothing city guards. He’d been doing it for years so this wouldn’t be even a worry for him.

Vonoros stretched for a minute before heading straight towards his goal, the guard station. After a couple of minutes, he arrived standing in front of the entrance before grinning and walking inside.

He pushed the doors and immediately changed his expression into pure terror and screamed, “Guards, guards, please help, there's a large sighting of red rogues in the lower quarter causing terror and making just dropping gifts to the poor”.

Immediately all the guards jump out of their seats and sprint outside headed towards the lower quarter, only two guards remain. A large towering tough-looking figure and a scrawny but nimble-looking figure sit in their chairs just looking at Vonoros as the triton man thinks about his next move.

---

Quest Name: Free the Red Rogue
Participants: Exactly Two (Other participant can be working on opposite quest)
Location: Anywhere
Post Requirements: 6 posts 200 words per post
Reward: +2 Renown Access to listed shop
Description: Popular red rogues from past years have been assaulted and kidnapped by hired goons, nobles wanting to keep them until after winter. Many of these rogues are being held captive in camps all across Charon, and need to be rescued. If the Night of the Red Rogue is to happen this year, then those rogues need to be freed! Help us by going in, fighting off the hired mercenaries, and freeing the Red Rouges before Winter's Crown.

Hylltywyll looked at the door to the prison as he heard muffled shouting and a rush of footsteps in the next room. Was something going on out there? The door never opened, so wherever all those guards were headed, it wasn't into the prison. Did they leave? Hmph. Well, maybe something interesting was happening. He stayed perched up in the rafters and waited.

The two remaining guards sat in chairs on either side of the door leading deeper into the guard station, to where the prison cells were. Even if there was something that needed guards to take care of it, that didn't mean they could abandon their posts. It wouldn't do to let their current prisoners go unguarded.

Now they were just wondering who this Triton man was and why he was still standing in the guard station. He'd got the guards, shouldn't he be leading them or going home, or wherever besides here? The guards were on high alert for red rogue members thanks to those snobby nobles, not even taking a moment to ask questions before rushing off. If they ignored a report of red rogue activity, those nobles would never let them hear the end of it.

The two guards glanced at each other, one eyebrow raised.

"Guards have been dispatched to handle those red rogues. You can leave now." The smaller guard said, looking at the Triton man. He was starting to get a little suspicious of the man.

Vonoros chuckled before saying, “Eh dudes why aren’t ya chasing after those red rogues? I’m sure this is like an old hands-on-deck situation brah so why dontcha just leave and get to work?”, in his calmest most laid-back tone he could muster.



After the two simply rebuffed him and told him to leave, shooing him away he let out an exasperated sigh, “Alright guys don’t say I didn’t warn, I give ya the good option now let’s do the bad option”.



He then grinned, took out his coral lance, and spun it in the air before holding it with both hands and pointing it toward the guards.



“Alright bros let’s just get this over with gimme yer best shot here and now so I can get back to my job”.



Both guards immediately spring out of their seats, the larger guard grabbing his hammer while the scrawnier guard picks up two daggers. Both charge at him intending to bring him down, the triton simply chuckles and rushes forward looking to make this quick and easy. He sidesteps the bigger man’s hammer smash and kicks the smaller man in the head as he tries to stab him, making him stagger back in pain. He then spins around swinging his coral lance into the man’s back hitting him with the spear’s sharp barbs.

And now it sounded like there was a fight on the other side of the door. Hylltywyll lied down on the rafter, letting his arms drape down over the sides as he listened. Something fun was happening, and it didn't include him! Well this couldn't stand. He'd need to go get involved!

The guards were angry now. This guy was up to something, luring the guards away and now attacking them! Probably another one of those red rogues, here to free the prisoners. It wasn't like there was anything in the guard station worth stealing. Well, they didn't need to beat him. They just needed to keep him from getting past them until all the other guards returned from going to catch the red rogues he reported. A lie, no doubt. It wouldn't be long until they arrived on the scene to find no red rogues to catch and returned knowing they'd been lied to.

This guy was pretty tough, but they felt confident enough that they could hold out for that long. And, unbeknownst to them, they had a little help.

Vonoros swung his coral lance into the back of the guard, but it did little damage as the guard's armor absorbed most of the blow and kept him safe from the sharp barbs. The guard spun back around, shaking off the kick to the head, and stabbed toward Vonoros with one dagger while keeping the other up to parry any incoming attacks. At the same time, the larger guard came at Vonoros from the other side with his hammer.

Before Vonoros could use his coral lance to defend, it, along with all the other weapons he had on his person, suddenly vanished into thin air.

---

Disarming Aura

Vonoros couldn’t help but have a big grin on his face as he realized just how angry these guards were.



He frowned and laughed, “Oh no guys getting a little mad huh? Don’t worry you won’t be awake much longer to feel that way once I’m done with ya”.



He knew he didn’t have much sure the slums were a bit away but that wouldn’t matter if he spent too much time dealing with these guys. Vonoros needed to finish this quickly and thankfully he had the weaponry to do it with his coral lance and other assorted goodies he would finish this in a flash. He was ready to defend himself as he saw a dagger swipe and a hammer smash coming his way. He’d easily be able to block the dagger and just parry the big guy’s attack, that’s what he thought at least. But before he could even raise his lance to defend himself all of his weapons just suddenly left his person. His coral lance popped out of his hand, his quarterstaff on his back wasn’t there, and even his secret weapon, the Dancer’s Fan he kept tucked into his pocket was gone.



He didn’t have time to think about what just happened, quickly reaching down to his feet and tapping him, his hands glowing with magic. Before the hammer and dagger could land on him, he jumped back, a couple of feet (1) avoiding the two attacks. He then looked down, noticing a little bit of blood coming from his right side. It looked like he wasn’t able to completely avoid the little guy’s stab.



He then grinned, “Alright no more messing around here, you guys think you’ve beat me since you magicked my weapons away but here's the thing bozos…I am a living weapon”.

---

1. Long Stride

The two guards were just as confused by the man's weapons suddenly vanishing, and had no idea why he was blaming them for his weapons being magicked away. They weren't going to argue though. Him not having his weapons made this easier for them. They could figure out what happened later, once he was locked in a cell with the rest of his red rogue friends.

Above them, Hylltywyll's cackling was muted by the shadow he was hiding in. The two guards had the numbers advantage, but that wasn't enough in a fight where their opponent clearly was an adventurer with much more fighting skill. This fight wouldn't be fun to watch at all if it ended too quickly, so he had taken it upon himself to referee this little match and try to even the playing field as much as possible. Step one was to give the adventurer a simple handicap by removing his weapons.

He could tell the man had some magic. He'd still be able to put up a fight without weapons. The power of the sea domain flowed through him. Not as strongly as in Tsarra, but it was there. Maybe when he was finished being entertained, he could have a meal too.

The guards ran at Vonoros maneuvering to approach him from opposite sides, keeping up their tactic of pincering him. A hammer came down toward him with an overhead smash while two daggers came from a low angle, trying to slash at his leg to lower his maneuverability.

Vonoros couldn’t help but crackle as he saw the two guards charge him with such confident bravado, it truly amused the triton fellow to the core. These goons thought they’d got him good with their weird magic weapon-taking thing.



He then raised his right hand collecting ice magic into his palm as he gripped the air creating a long sharp spear of ice (1) that clashed against the big guy grinning as he did so. He knew that it wouldn’t stand much against him but he wasn’t looking for a long drawn-out fight, he wanted to finish this up quickly. He clashed against the big guy’s overhead strike, however the smaller guy’s passing dagger slash to his legs managed to catch him as he was distracted.



“Dammit” he muttered as he felt his legs get stabbed before once more putting on his usual smile, “Let’s wrap this up now why don’t we”, he chuckled before opening his mouth wide and letting out a scream (2) that enveloped the room. Suddenly the two guards lower their weapons and clutch their heads in pain as their ears are filled with screaming and howling.



Vonoros smiles as both of them struggle to stand the overtaking noise, both glaring at the man as he simply walks past the two and jogs over to their previous station, swiping the keys and starting to open up the jail red rogue's cells as the prisoners excitedly cheer.

Hylltywyll knew what spell Vonoros was about to cast before he cast it and immediately put up a ward to protect himself from its effects. Still, the loud scream was annoying, and in Hylltywyll's opinion, cheating! He knew the guy could use magic and had expected him to be able to put up a fight even without his weapons, but this was still too easy!

The two guards were clutching their ears and having difficulty focusing on keeping up the battle. He clicked his tongue in annoyance, the sound muted by the shadows around him. Tsk. Pathetic. Hylltywyll would just have to give them a little more assistance until they could get it together and start fighting again. He hopped down from the rafter and stood in the door leading farther back into the guard station, where the prison cells were. He glared at the dumb fish man and snapped his fingers.

Before Vonoros could open the jail cell with the keys, the keys suddenly vanished from his hands. The imprisoned red rogues looked down at the floor in confusion, thinking he may have just dropped them at first, but the keys were nowhere to be seen. It was as if the keys had just never existed in the first place.

---

Expanded Mind
Mind Ward
Remove From Existence

Vonoros couldn’t help but have a large grin on his face. This job had proved easy, way too easy like taking candy from a baby. He was starting to feel bad for his employer only for a second since he felt he had barely done any work. All he did was get his weapons taken away and scream and was about to free everyone. Well, who cares, it was an easy job and it was all about to be over. He was already planning on what he was going to spend his payout on, he’d rent out a nice room at an inn and have a good night’s sleep for once in a very long time.



His relief was quickly short-lived as the second he was about to open the jail cells with his ill-gotten keys they were suddenly gone.



He took a step back thinking he must’ve dropped it or something looking down on the floor there was no trace of it.



“Oh, maybe it fell into my pocket or something”, he reasoned to himself as he checked his shorts and his hair, he always lost stuff in his verdant mane but alas there was no trace of it. The keys that were in his hands, the ones that were integral to getting the job done were gone.



“Crap”, he cursed as he searched his pockets and the floor again before giving up, “These damned goons must’ve put some charm on ‘em. I’m running out of time, I need to get these cages open before anyone else comes back to stop me”.



He quickly gather cold energy into his palm generating another spear made of ice like the same one that lied on the floor and used moments ago. He then began smashing the locks around hoping that would be enough to break them if not he’d have to get more creative to figure this out.

This guy didn't even notice his incredibly intimidating (2 foot tall) frame standing in the doorway. Hylltywyll would've been offended if he didn't just think the guy must be an idiot, or at least incredibly oblivious. Well, he did think those average old guards had somehow been the ones to make his weapons disappear earlier. Oh, right. Those weapons.

The amount of time Hylltywyll could keep the weapons completely out of existence had run out and the spear, along with a bunch of other weapons the Triton had been carrying. The weapons popped back into existence exactly where they had been, but now without anyone to hold them in place, they clattered to the ground out in the front room of the guard station between the guards and the exit.

The guards looked up at the weapons in confusion. Their minds were clearing of all the screaming and they were standing back to their feet. Now they looked pissed.

Well, looks like Hylltywyll didn't even need to get more involved than taking those keys away. He could just slip away again, unseen. And he'd do just that. Oh, but first...

Vonoros cast his spell to summon a spear of ice in his hand, but instead of the spear he intended to create, a ball of water suddenly appeared. It flew at the lock he'd been aiming for and bounced off, the water not proving very effective on the sturdy metal lock. The bubble bounced straight back into Vonoros' face like a rebounding dodgeball.

A little payback for that annoying scream. Hylltywyll smirked as he climbed back into the rafters before anyone took notice of him.

---

Chaos Warp- Ice Spike to Bouncing Bubble

Vonoros had an excited expression on his face before it was quickly ruined and replaced with a large scowl as for some weird reason his magic failed. Instead of his long ice spike forming it simply turned into water that hit him in the face. His hair was drenched with water and he was pissed. He then wildly looked around as he heard a loud clang ring out behind them he glanced over and saw all of his stuff was in front of the exit.



He scowled, “What the hell is wrong with ya guys? Didn’t think the city guards were a bunch of thieves taking my stuff mid-battle. Even somehow changing my spell mid-cast it seems like you two are the city’s best line of defense. I hate you two you know that? All I want is just to free these red bastards and collect my money but no you two decided to be heroes. Well, let me show you what happens to heroes who mess with my money”.



He points (1) both of his index fingers towards the men and starts chuckling, “Let’s see how big and bad you are when you’re both feel like you're on your last legs”.



He intended to make them feel true pain and the full effects of his spell so he could use even the slightest amount of time to at least free one of these red fools. He then jogged over to the exit and picked up his weaponry, still confused at the amount of power and skill that these two buffoons had.

---

1. Desperation (2/2)

Was this guy serious? He thought these two nobodies were capable of doing everything that had been happening to him, capable of what Hylltywyll could do? That was just insulting, to think so lowly of the Fairy's magic that some stupid guards could even come close to his power.

Vonoros pointed his finger and was already running forward like a fool before he even realized his mistake. He'd made Hylltywyll angry. That, and his spell on the guards had never even taken effect. With one wave of Hylltywyll's hand, his spell had been cancelled before it could take hold.

The two guards just glanced at each other in confusion as the intruder was just nonchalantly jogging over to them after making such a threat. They wouldn't let him get his weapons back. They stood between him and the fallen weapons, their daggers and hammer at the ready. As soon as Vonoros came close to them, they attacked.

Their strategy had been working before, so they saw no reason to change it. Coming at him from either side while keeping themselves between him and his weapons on the floor, two daggers aimed to stab Vonoros in the right of his torso while a hammer swung toward his left in a low, sideways swing aimed to land a heavy blow on his knee.

With the two guards' backs turned to the weapons on the ground, Hylltywyll silently dropped down from the rafters and picked them all up, filling his little arms with them. He gave Vonoros a mischievous smirk before vanishing along with the weapons.

Up in the dark rafters again, he shoved all the weapons into his shadow. These would make nice additions to his collection, even if they weren't that shiny. Remembering stealing them from that oaf who couldn't recognize his magic was far above the capabilities of some common guards would make up for that.

---

Counter Spell
Blink
Hylltywyll's Shady Shelter

Vonoros's smirk of self-satisfaction was quickly removed as he saw that the guards were indeed not in soul-crushing desperate pain but indeed up and ready for a fight. Whatever these guards were made out of, they were truly really strong. First, they had taken all of his weapons and stopped his magic not just once but twice, and now they had him at his wit’s end. These had to be the strongest pair of guards he’d ever seen in his entire life.



He barely had enough time to react, hopping over to the right and narrowly avoiding the hammer knee smash but not fast enough to dodge the dagger swipe to his torso. Wincing and gritting his teeth as he taps his feet and jumps back a couple of feet (1) trying to gain some distance looking down at his wound. Vonoros was bleeding and the little goon managed to get him a good clean stab to the torso. He needed to figure out what the hell these two were doing to mess him up so badly. The triton glared at them right in the eyes but suddenly he saw something behind them, something smaller and furry but there was something there picking up his weapons like a little thief. The little furry fellow had even smirked at him before disappearing, he couldn’t help but just stand there in confusion.



He placed his hands out and shouted, “Yo before we continue this fight or whatever did either of you two dudes see that little freaky furball just a second ago? I mean it looked like it was taking my weapons there. Whatever that thing is, does it work for you? If it doesn’t work, maybe that’s the real criminal hiding in the shadows, probably responsible for framing my stand-up red rogue friends here”.

---

1. Long Stride

"We won't be tricked by your lies again! It's obvious the real criminal here is the one attacking two city guards, fool!" The larger guard shouted at Vonoros angrily. Whatever nonsense he was spouting about some freaky furball framing the red rogues wouldn't get them to stop defending the prison cells from him. Trying to trick them with such a ridiculous lie, did he think they were that stupid?

The two guards weren't the most remarkable of fighters compared to a majority of adventurers or even to some other city guards, but their teamwork was quite good. These two seemed to have been working together for a long time as they didn't even have to talk to each other to coordinate their attacks.

The guards' hammer swung straight for Vonoros' head while two daggers stabbed for his back to try and cut him off from leaping away again. They weren't holding back. The thought of taking him as a live prisoner was discarded in anger. Holding him off until reinforcements arrived was now their backup plan. Taking him down themselves was their new goal.

Hylltywyll silently chuckled up in the rafters. Did he really think he could try and tell the two guards he attacked that he wasn't their enemy here? Did he forget he made them cover their ears in pain as he took their keys and skipped past them to free the guards all cheerily? Hylltywyll shook his head in disbelief, a smirk still on his face.